Why do people run?
 

So as something to do with my girlfriend, we decided to enter a 5K run towards the end of July. I've ran a total of 4 miles YTD, so I figure I should at least get a couple runs in before the race.

So I went out for about a 2.5 mile route. Not a quick pace. Felt okay during the run. Get done...puke a little. Right now as I type this, I'm kinda in pain.

I've done 70 mile RR with tons of climbing, hour cat2-3 crits with average speed of 28mph, and my HR avg was 175, and besides feeling gassed, there's no pain. Not like this. Now I ask, why do people run.

If you have to ask, you don't get running. Runners often ask why do cyclists ride bikes - it's too easy and effort and you don't get any benefits from it

I run because its fun.

Running sucks. I used to run, and I can't for the life of me comprehend why. My most recent running experiment took place close to two years ago, when my road bike was stolen off of my porch and I turned to running for fitness out of desperation. I did one three-mile run, which seemed simple enough, and in terms of aerobic effort it wasn't all that hard. But it hurt like hell, and I could barely move the next day.

Fortunately, my bike came back to me a couple weeks later, and I never looked back. Which is good, because I gave up on the running pretty quickly after that painful failure. Cycling is more exhausting than running, but far less painful.

I don't know but runners usually pick up cycling after a knee injury. I'd rather skip the injury and just ride.

Like trail running... that other stuff(road) not so much.

that's when you leave them huffing and puffing at the bottom of a hill.

That just doesn't make sense. I used to run, and I 'get' it - but ever since taking up cycling, the pain and injury associated with running seems pretty pointless. "Hurts less," doesn't make cycling easy or mean that there are no benefits associated with it. They are two different activities that affect your body in somewhat different ways. Running, at least long-distance running, is an endurance effort, but it also involves subjecting your joints (and organs, etc) to the stress of repeated impact with the ground. Cycling essentially removes most of the impact-related stress. My experience has been that it's possible to go deeper in cycling, because sheer physical pain seems to set in before I hit my absolute energy limit when running. The limits are just different. Personally, my decision was that I prefer the way cycling wears you out to the way that running wears you out, and running sucks. Given the risk of leg, hip and back injuries that I was subjecting myself to, not only by running but by running on flat feet without correct arch support, I feel good about the way things went.

...because they can't ride a bike (vice versa). Note sarcasm

I thought running made your joints stronger.
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/...2232-0,00.html

Just another form of physical enjoyment. I run and bike and I find that I enjoy riding a bit more. Running is fun and all and its great when you get a group (just like cycling) but I find that scenery changes a bit too slowly for my liking.

BTW you guys that used to run, did you run a lot and is that why you hurt? Because I have been running for ~4 years now, averaging about 20-25 miles a week, and I don't feel any pain.

As far as impact related stress I wrestle and compete in jiu jitsu as well so running is probably the least of my worries...

I used to love running. It's much more pure than cycling... just you, the road, and your lactate threshold.

But it beats your joints into pulp. That's why I'm a cyclist now.

why not run.
there's more room in life then to do ONE activity.
cycling rules my day to day, but i still get in a few runs a week (40ish K) and i'm
sure this is where my awesome cardio comes from. a hard run hurts and that's good.
besides, a life of only cycling will leave you with the bones of an old lady and a sloppy gut.

I ride and run. A lot.
Running can be done in weather that you can not ride in. It makes for great winter work outs (I can't stand doing the indoor thing). Running keeps me in better shape over the winter than the people I know who retire to the trainer. Running is also a much better work out than an "easy" ride (it is more like a TT effort). The "impact related stress" of running will increase your bone density (riding won't) Running requires very little investment in equipment.
The reason why you hurt is because you are a sissy. HTFU.
Don't blame running. It is a very natural, and beneficial form of exercise.
Read "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall.

Based on your username: kidonabike, I would venture to say that you are pretty young. The pain does start becoming an issue in the late 30s to mid 40s. Running 3-5mi/day may not do it. Try running a half marathon every weekend or once a week while still doing 3-6mi/day.

I agree though it is another form of physical enjoyment. It is cheap compared to many other sports. My body can handle the running at 40yrs old but it struggled after a half marathon. The pounding was pure hell. I like cycling because, to me, it's a more graceful sport where you can glide through the wind. It feels more free.

Running is for suckas!

I have to run for PT, I effing despise mandatory fitness training...Much rather be on the bike.

I used to run, that's primarily how I lost all my weight. But I have ulcerative colitis and running...the bouncing and impact REALLY exacerbate the symptoms. I can bike as far as my body can take me without it affecting my UC symptoms. That was the primary reason I got on the bike...but, I'm SO very glad I did. Running is for wusses anyway...how much running shoe schwag can you have? :D

Running a half marathon every weekend -- from the way it's worded, it sounds like you're racing a half marathon every weekend. Maybe that's your first mistake. Jeez. Don't run races every weekend!

Running is awesome because it's hard. It's rewarding. Cycling is for lazy people who want to sit on their butts and not do any work. And for people who think they deserve to win races when they're less fit than half the field.

The above response was obviously overly cynical :)

really? am i wasting my time 2 hours doing nothing but getting tan lines?

+1. You, me and about a million others. :)

Riding is too expensive for most people. Running can be fun if your not a total wuss about it. I started running 6 years ago as roadwork for boxing. At first I would run about 3 miles a day. I wasn't too crazy about it but I noticed the more I ran the more my conditioning would improve at everything else I did. Last year I decided to run a marathon just for the hell of it. I only trained for about 6 weeks and my longest run was only about 13 miles. In the race I fell apart but I had a lot of people cheering me on and I was determined to finish. I managed to finish in 3:01:49. I was having muscle spasms, I was seriously dehydrated but I have never felt more alive.

The workout I can get in 15-20 minues from running is far greater than any 15-20 minutes spent on a bike.

Maybe it's just me, but I can sneak in a 20 minute run (about 2.5-3 miles) quite often. To get the same workout feeling from cycling I have to spend about 2 hours or more on a bike. Some days I just don't have that kind of time or I'd rather spend the time with my family.

As for running beating your joints to a pulp, that's not quite true. Read the link further up the page.

You can't try to find a simple cause- run a lot- for many people's pain. People hurt for many reasons, including using shoes not appropriate for their foot mechanics, mechanical malalignment or subtle deformity of their joints, genetic predisposition to osteoarthritis/degenerative disc disease, increasing the duration/intensity/etc of their activities too fast..

Your mileage isn't that high. If you try to increase it, you might run into problems.

As someone else said.. your member name might be telling us why you can do all those activities.. at all.

i run and bike. to me they are different sports, but they go together like bread and butter. a lot of cyclists run to train muscles that biking won't build and a lot of runners bike to build their cardio. heck even lance armstrong ran marathons.

and as some of you have already mentioned, running doesn't require as many equipments as cycling. just a pair of running shoes, a pair of running shorts and you are off.

oh damn now i have to run to train for this marathon coming up. :(